Haunting Grounds
by IxLikexTea
Summary: Sakura is the twenty-two year old doctor at Konoha Hospital, newly put in charge of the mysterious Psyche Warding just outside the city walls. Survival is uncertain as she plunges into the dark realm of nightmares and meets the demons lurking within.
1. Into the Jaws of the Beast

1, 2, 3 GO!

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><p>Chapter 1: Into the Jaws of the Beast<p>

Sakura was bored, so very bored. Her seven hour shift at Konoha Hospital had just ended and she was dead on her feet, tired to the very bone. In her opinion, the hospital was too white, with white walls, floors, ceilings, doors, everything was white. She wondered how a person was meant to heal if they were surrounded with such blandness, she would have to talk to Tsunade about it.

Sakura was a twenty-one year old graduate of the prestigious Shinobi University in the Land of Fire, more specifically, the capital city Konoha. She was very intelligent and had skipped years of her record, second best to only Tsunade herself. Sakura was proud, but kept quiet about her pride; she was content to merely help people.

At the moment, Sakura was in her small, yet comfortable apartment in the heart of Konoha city, close to the hospital and shops. She was spread out on her queen bed with white sheets, her unusual light pink shoulder length hair widely spread out over her pillows. She wanted to sleep so very badly but she just, couldn't.

She groaned and rolled over, cushioning her face into the soft blankets when her sharp ears caught a soft knock on the front. Rolling off the bed and letting out an audible puff of air as she hit the ground harder than expected, she flipped up as fast as she could and stumbled to the door. She opened the abused door to the face of a soft Hyuuga.

"Hinata-chan, what a surprise; please come inside!" Sakura could be tough to the soft, shy girl who was so very gentle. Hyuuga Hinata was the head of the Hyuuga clan, after struggling with confidence for most of her teenage years she stood up to her father, with the help of her fiancé and Sakura's best friend Uzamaki Naruto. Sakura was happy for the sweet girl and her rambunctious fiancé.

"S-Sakura-san… I couldn't intrude like that, I just came to t-tell you that everyone is going to the B-Barbeque House tonight. Would you, um, like to come as well?" The lavender haired girl stumbled, while she had grown more confident she still couldn't stop herself from stuttering sometimes.

"Of course, I would love to, at the usual time and table right?" The now excited girl exuberantly asked.

After a quick intercourse of words in which Sakura had asked questions about the night and offered Hinata tea, insisting she was not a nuisance of any kind. Hinata had shyly smiled, giving all information and politely declining tea, before saying her goodbye in order to see her husband return from his tiring job.

Naruto Uzamaki had succeeded in his life goal of becoming Hokage, the head chief, leader, of the city of Konoha and thus leader of the Land of Fire. He and his blushing bride couldn't have been happier. Naruto had always been treated badly as a child, suspicious people seeing the whiskers on his face and the strange mark on his stomach and whispering that he had the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside him, this was all lies in Sakura's eyes.

Naruto had not given up, like most people would have in his situation, both of his parents had died in a mysterious accident coming home from the hospital after he was born. His mother was a kind red-haired woman from the Land of Whirlpools which was destroyed and his father was the fourth Hokage of the Land. Both of them had gone to the same school, the Academy when they were eleven and were put under the instruction of Umino Iruka and then Hatake Kakashi.

There was a third member of their team, named Uchiha Sasuke. He had left when they were eleven to join the mass-terrorist Orochimaru and his henchman Yakushi Kabuto when they had attacked the city. Naruto was distraught, his best friend and rival had deserted him, he was convinced that he had to save Sasuke and he became Hokage in order to do so. These days Sasuke was still with Orochimaru, in the darkest corners of the world.

Once Sakura had thought that she had loved him, the paradox that was Sasuke Uchiha. She later found out that while her feelings were deep that she loved him as a brother and best friend and that she would do anything to bring him back, even if she had a slight urge to punch him in his perfect face for leaving them. Sakura let out a deep sigh, she didn't like thinking about things like that. The reason Sasuke left… is a story best saved for another time.

Sakura's back was against the back of her door, she rested another moment with her eyes glued shut then she walked calmly to her room and looked inside her old wardrobe. She fished out a silky light blue dress that had loose sleeves and the bottom of the dress came up slightly to her right side only, from knee height to near mid-thigh. It showed of some skin while keeping it classy and the dress itself was a dark, romantic blue.

She also put on a black-blue cardigan which went just past the elbow, while the dress sleeve only went to mid upper-arm. It went slightly passed her bust and was button up at the front, not that she bothered. The V-neck of her dress was slightly above the start of her bust and fluttered lightly from the evening wind coming from Sakura's apartment window. She slipped on some easy to wear, short heels with a simple strap on the ankle and sash across the toes, fashionable yet comfortable.

She looked to her bedside cloak that read precisely six-fifteen. She decided against wearing makeup and looking into the mirror for a minute, meeting crisp, light green eyes that stared back at her. Her pink locks were slightly messy and she hastily pulled a brush through them until they were satisfactory. She had a flatter chest and narrow thighs with skinny, bony and elegant arms and legs. She was pale, not as pale as Sasuke or Sai but not nearly as tan as Naruto, she was fairly normal height at five foot seven.

She decided to keep her hair down and reached over to grab a small purse when she heard her television, she frowned knowing that she hadn't turned it on today. She looped the black purses band around her shoulder, shoving in her car keys, house keys, wallet, and her phone, after a moment of hesitation; she also put in a pretty cream bracelet. She walked into the living room and looked at her TV, which was emitting static with a black and white screen. She turned it off, still with a frown on her face.

Shrugging the strange TV incidence she walked out the door at six-forty five, a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. She took the elevator down and walked through to the car park. The sun was close to settling on the horizon and the evening sun light up her dress. She unlocked her car, a red Volkswagen Beetle, and hopped in to her nice cream seats. She drove up to the gate of the car park, pressing the remote attached to her keys and drove out.

As she was driving she admired the clean, well-kept streets of Konoha with shops and fancy house- mostly apartments, like Sakura's. She felt slightly happy with herself for being able to live in a place like this, with a stable job that earned her lots of money and that she loved and friends in high place. She was happy, content as she drove past Konoha Hospital.

At six-fifty five Sakura Haruno walked in the Barbeque House that was frequented by her and her friends, as well as the Ichiraku Ramen House. These places had grown substantially from when she was eleven as they were often visited by the Hokage, Naruto, in a quest to satisfy his insatiable appetite and had become very popular. They always saved a spot for the old Rookie Nine though and for that, she was grateful.

The place itself was a labyrinth of traditional Japanese low tables and sitting cushions, tastefully decorated with old designs and characters. It smelled of meat and alcohol, a different yet not all-together bad smell, with a hint of the flowers and scented candles at every table. A soft floor, sliding screens separating every table into a large cubicle with a window view in each area. The area leaked of melancholy and warm, homely vibes.

She walked straight to the table as nearly everyone in the place knew who she was, and sat down between the window and her close friend, Yakamana Ino, who owned an extremely popular florist business. Nearly everyone was there, including Nara Shikamaru, famous detective, Akimichi Chouji, popular food critic, Inuzuka Kiba, TV star and dog trainer, Hyuuga Hinata, head of the Hyuuga house and charity worker, Aburame Shino, biologist and insect specialist, Rock Lee, professional in seven martial arts, Tenten, mysterious weapons dealer with no last name, Hyuuga Neji, bodyguard and civil rights activist and Sakura herself, head medic of Konoha Hospital.

"Hi everyone, Where's Naru-"

Sakura was cut off by a familiar and slightly hyper voice. She suddenly sighted the wild, short blonde hair and azure blue eyes with three whisker-like scars on both cheeks. He and Hinata looked very different, with her midnight blue reaching her waist and pupil less lavender eyes Sakura was reminded of the sun and moon.

"'ttebayo, Sakura-chan here I am!" Naruto near yelled as he sat down next to Hinata and she blushed profusely.

"Took you long enough, how troublesome…" The lazy Nara hadn't changed at all, he may be a detective but he hardly had to put in work for any cases, considering his extremely high IQ.

Ino snickered and the laughing was infectious, soon contaminating the area with hearty laughs and familiar faces. Everyone at the table had been friends for years, some stretching back further than others. Kindness leaked out in gusto and even with one member of the group missing, they could rely on each other, at the moment, they were happy.

The rest of the evening was spent mostly talking and watching the gusty Akimichi eating everything in the restaurant. So really, everything was quite normal. While this was going on someone was planning a dastardly plan that would change the world as Sakura knew it, and bring everything to an end.

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><p>When Sakura woke up the next morning she heard her TV on again, curiously and slightly afraid she walked- snuck up to it and with a slightly shaky hand turned it off. She look with a furrowed brow at the TV then decided that she would can the electrician on Monday as today was Saturday and nearly no-one works on weekends.<p>

Except her, of course, she had a ten hour shift at the hospital starting at eleven and ending nine tonight. She was working at the psych ward of the hospital, the part were the inturns whispered about and even the other doctors were too afraid to travel to. She rolled her eyes, remembering the time when her college, a timid girl named Yuriko said that the place was haunted with the spirits of the tormented.

This was ridiculous, of course. Sakura did not believe in the existence of any god or otherworldly power, and she certainly did not fear any. Things that could hurt her, like spiders, snakes and such scared her, as she had seen the damage one little bite could cause. She was fairly brave other than that, neither needles nor her teacher Tsunade's famous fear; blood could put a dent in Sakura's spirit. She saw fear as a prerequisite of growth, being afraid is the bodies way to tell you that you are about to grow, although it would be nice to be told another, less extreme way.

She was worked with many patients today, singular work and art therapy with the dangerous and deranged, then a group session with the patients from ward A. She was glad that Neji, Kakashi, Genma and a few others were working as body guards in the psych ward. The actual ward contained four floors, the top floor was warding A- the most dangerous down to ward D the… slightly less dangerous. The building was separate from the main hospital and was on the very edges of the city, making it difficult to access.

She got dressed in a plain white shirt and a black pencil skirt while small grey heels as today was more of a concealing day then a working day. She decided to take the bus today and walked down a block and crossed a busy road to get to the bus station before catching the twenty-seven bus through the suburbs and then a short walk to the building.

The front of the building was a faded grey-white that may have been beautiful at some point and a menacing Iron Gate and fence around the area. The gate and fence seemed overkill and really they were simply left after the renovation and served no purpose since all the doors in the asylum were electrically barred and required key cards and passcodes. If an emergency were to occur all the doors would seal for twenty-four hours, as a security precaution.

The asylum used to be a prison for as long as the early seventeen hundreds and now, in two thousand and twelve in was an asylum. It had been renovated in nineteen nighty-seven after standing empty for nearly seventy years. It had served as a place where those who were at the brink of their mind where sent from then on, and Sakura was its head director only overruled by Tsunade.

She slowly stepped up the gate, which dwarfed her considerably, and pushed it lightly, standing completely still simply watching as the gate opened with a loud groan. She slipped through the small opening and closed the gate behind her, feeling a shiver up her spine and her hair standing up as she heard the loud clang of the shutting gate. She really hated this place, it was creepy and unfriendly, housing danger and inspiring nightmares, it defied time and reality itself. She often wished for the place to be burned to the ground and the ashes piled in the ocean to be forever destroyed.

She stepped into the main door and then slipped her identification card into the machine just too the side of a second door and hastily jabbed in her personal code. This was a high-security facility, couldn't let the crazies bust out into the city as it would have disastrous repercussions. She waved to the administrator Karin talking behind her desk to some friend or the other. The redhead and the pinkette at first had not gotten along, but being near the only females in the building- besides a few stragglers and some patients, had forced them together into a type of kinship. So while they were perhaps not friends, they were allies nonetheless.

She walked past Karin and her crazy, maniacal gossiping with some unnameable and pressed the button for the elevator as the stairs reminded her too much of the small rooms the patients were kept in. In this sick, white place she couldn't help but feel claustrophobia creeping up on her. But this was her job, to help people, and help people she would. She sighed and then sucked in a huge breath, letting her mind clear of fear and anxiety.

The elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened, like the jaws of a beast, she couldn't help thinking and as the small prey she stepped in and was elevated to the fourth floor of the asylum and to the opening of hell.

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><p>First chapter done! I would NOT like to thank my useless peanut gallery friends for doing absolutely nothing but making snide comments and judging me from their corners and distracting me with hour long card games with occasional twenty-five card pick-ups.<p>

I started reading fanfiction when I was eleven, for about five hours every night but sometimes seven- avoiding all sleep at all. I have read over five-thousand fics and millions of word. Largest was about 580K and had 7k+ reviews that took me about three days. This is the first fanfic I published, beside from the wreck of a fanfic I posted then promptly deleted back in 09. I lost my nerve and took my sweet time and this is the result.

I fancy myself as somewhat of a fanfiction expert, considering the amount of time I have spent on this site. Everything from yaoi, yuri, shonen-ai, shojo-ai, dubcon, noncon, K-M, cest fics, selfcest, tentacles, I-want-to-kill-myself-after-reading angst, and everything too extreme to mention here.

I would like to thank many, many Naruto fanfiction authors, too many to list here. Some of which are Vesper-chan, Takara Makoto, Shelby-Sabaku, StormDragon666, Kaze and Kiba, and anyone else that I temporarily cannot remember.

Writing a fanfic gives me new sight in the dynamics of fanfiction and I will incorporate my knowledge and total lack of life into my fanfiction. This is but the first chapter of something beautiful and eventually I may have enough courage to produce and post my OC story I have been planning for four long years, thinking about every day and struggling immensely with emotions and fear developing her into a realistic character that I can relate to with fear and my sadness. I plan it to be about 200k words, OC centric, little to no romance and it focuses on the grey-dark side of the Shinobi world. Lots of yummy, realistic angst and LOTS of main character death. Dark, realistic and painfully sad, just how I plan to make you feel.

This is a short, kind-of dark and horror-y fanfic that I got bored and wrote. Maybe about ten chapters, this one is a little slow but things will speed up eventually, good things take time, unfortunately.


	2. Whats up w this fic

So this story was done ages and ages ago and seriously I don't think it's that good but thank you sincerely for the amazing 21 reviews. I don't think this story will ever be finished or at least not like this but maybe later as a rewrite, however I have other exciting news.

Hopefully soon I'll be publishing the first chapter of my OC story (or rather there are a lot of OCs), which also includes Akatsuki. I've been working on it for a VERY VERY long time and I hope you'll read it when I post it. It'll also be on ao3.

The story will almost definitely be over 100k words and is a tragedy/adventure. Mostly it's very depressing and doesn't have any pairings. It's a story about the past, the future and reality. The tale of a child who became an adult far too soon.

It delves into what it really means to be a shinobi. What other atrocities were born from Orochimaru's depraved fantasy of immortality and the grandiose and cruel ideas this gave his comrades. It depicts the Land of Rain in a bloody civil war between the Akatsuki and Hanzō the Salamander. It tells the story of the Akatsuki from the inside, and how it fell apart.

So please have some faith in me, this fic might be temporarily abandoned but it's to tell a story I have been wanting to share for a long time.

Stay tuned.

And to those people who don't like OC stories too bad you're gonna miss out on a fantastic ride.

This story is just too... simple. Everyone can see where it's going. Sakura ends up with Akatsuki members blah blah blah, been done 100000000x times. It's boring... and why should I do it when Vesperchan has already done a much superior version? My writing skills have vastly improved from then too, so this fic is just unnecessary. It's pretty much just fan service with nothing new of inventive.

MAYBE I'll remake this later. But it'd have to be in a new way.


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